Friday, January 13, 2017

We don't know why we are here

Earth is like a dot in the solar system –even Jupiter can
contain 1000 earths and the sun can house more than 1000 Jupiters. The sun has
99.8% of the mass of the solar system. The Milky Way galaxy alone has more than
100 billion solar systems and which, in turn, is one among more than 20
trillion galaxies in the universe. Thus the earth's size tends to become zero
in the universe.

According to NASA there are at least 1 billion earth-like planets in the Milky
Way itself where life can be evolved and sustained. There must be trillions of earth like planets in this universe. They are all far away; many
of them are millions or billions of light-years (a light year is 300,000X365X24X60X60
kilometers) away that makes it almost impossible to know whether life
(intelligent ones included) exists there or not. Such humongous distances make
us ignorant of their existence and ignorance is as good non-existence.

We are conscious of the existence of this universe and it
exists. If there is no consciousness that is aware of this universe, is there
any meaning for its existence? We humans
live for a millisecond in the cosmic time scale. Our earth has been spinning on
its axis and revolving round its star for the past 4.5 billion years! It will
do so for another 4.5 billion years or more before its programmed demise. Life
on this planet may end any time-with a huge volcanic eruption or with the
impact of a comet or an asteroid. There is nothing special about human life
here which comes and goes like a bubble in water just for 100 years or less.

The universe, the earth and the sun, are least concerned whether we live or
die, whether we are happy or sad. Quakes, floods, volcanoes, hurricanes,
plagues and viruses have killed us and inflicted untold pains. The massive
volcanic eruption, Thoba of Sumatra that erupted 65,000 years ago, almost wiped
out the evolving Homo sapiens. The less than 10,000 humans left out in Central
Africa multiplied, spread out and here we are.
An asteroid hit had destroyed all dinosaurs. A similar asteroid or comet
hit can finish us all. Sometimes, the human civilization may find ways to
destroy itself. The earth, the sun and the universe are massively indifferent to human life.

Life evolvesin the hospitable zone of medium stars like the
sun with enough energy and long life. With favorable conditions, various
organisms and sometimes intelligent beings may evolve. There could be trillions
of planets in this universe where life exists at various levels. But they all
come and go like bubbles for a moment. We came on the scene accidentally, and
the little matter and energy that make us up will merge into this universe as
we go. When the hydrogen fuel ends up, stars will stop shining and die and no
new star, planet or life will be formed. Where do we come from? What is the
meaning for our transient existence? No meaningful answer has yet been
unraveled although philosophers, scientists and others have speculated on the
question for long. The answer of
religious believers merits no consideration as all their gods have been created
by the primitive humans who did not understand this world or life. God is an anachronism. They deified nature-phenomena and later created souls that live eternally like the gods they created. Religions have been selling these silly concepts and making a plum living.

We are in an era when humans make a slow but steady progress from superstitious beliefs and magical rituals to reason and science. The universe is self-originating and self-propelling and it does not need any god.People have come to realize there is nothing divine in any religion. But why we come here for a second and go just like that? There seems to be no meaning. May be only humans want a reason for their existence. We come and just go.

It would be great if we can be happy while we are here.
Forget about the past and the future-we don’t know anything about them- this
moment is all that matters and let us try to be happy now.

I would not say ignored. Not at all. Almost every human mind is puzzled and perplexed by the mysteries of our being. Who we are? Where have we come from? Did somebody create us? Is there a super power which runs this show?....so many philosfers, thinkers and prophets pondered and tried to decipher these mysteries. Their revelations appealed to the mankind and thus developed beliefs. A set of beliefs became religion. Thank You.

I would not say ignored. Not at all. Almost every human mind is puzzled and perplexed by the mysteries of our being. Who we are? Where have we come from? Did somebody create us? Is there a super power which runs this show?....so many philosfers, thinkers and prophets pondered and tried to decipher these mysteries. Their revelations appealed to the mankind and thus developed beliefs. A set of beliefs became religion. Thank You.